Radio - on your TV

Although to some people it seems like a strange thing to do, official ‘RAJAR’ figures show that nearly 5% of all radio listening is done through a TV. At the moment, the main way people find radio on their TV is by scrolling down the huge list of channels in the electronic programme guide. Lurking right down the bottom, usually beyond Home Shopping, God, and Dating, are a few dozen radio stations.

Ask anyone in the media business, and they’ll tell you that 2012 is likely to be the year of ‘connected TVs’. They’re referring to the trend for people to buy tellies that can hook up to your wi-fi and give you stuff not only from your TV aerial/satellite/cable connection, but also through the internet. And apparently we’re increasingly connecting things to our TVs that are themselves connected to the internet – like set-top boxes, games consoles and Blu-ray players.

This opens up a few interesting possibilities for Radioplayer...

As TVs get more user-friendly, we should be able to make Radio easier to find. Ideally, under one button.

Instead of just a few dozen stations, we should be able to offer listeners more choice (there are now 307 stations in Radioplayer).

And while you’re listening, we could show you more interesting/useful stuff on your screen, using the internet connection.

So, we’re looking to work with a company that has experience in this ‘connected TV app’ area. Today, we’re kicking off a very fast selection process, which starts with a ‘Request for Expressions of Interest’. If you’re a firm with the right expertise, you can download the details here.